Keto Butter Chicken

Curry orange chicken.White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.
Butter Chicken Curry

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I LOVE curry!

Keto Butter Chicken…An easy family dinner that’s keto friendly and everyone will love.

You don’t need an Instant Pot to make this dinner. Stovetop can make this from kitchen to table in less than 30 minutes.

White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

When you meld together Indian spices, cream and tender chicken in an Instant Pot you get this delightful curry dish. Typically this recipe is served over rice or with Naan, however since we are living a low carb lifestyle over here, we do Keto Butter Chicken over cauliflower.

With all the cooking and baking I do it’s quite surprising to me that I have never spent much time making Indian foods in The Kellie Kitchen. It seems intimidating to me and so unfamiliar.

However, since adapting to a keto friendly lifestyle and finding the diet that changed my life it only seemed fitting that I needed to branch out and try cooking new thing.

White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

Butter chicken was not new to me as I have had this dish dozens of times over my adult life. Every Indian restaurant I had ever been to had a delicious version always served with Naan and or white rice.

As you know, I’m not a big carb eater and usually steer clear of the carby white stuff. So I decided to make my own version of Keto Butter Chicken at home.

The Base

I do not serve traditional rice or bread at our meals, but I wanted to have something to serve the Keto Butter Chicken over. My base of choice is Cauliflower…riced or roasted.

Keto Cauliflower Rice - "Jasmine style"
Simple Cauliflower Rice

The recipe is so easy I don’t even think I should spend the time creating a whole post on it, but someday soon I will…I promise.

Curry orange chicken.White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

The cauliflower can go in the oven before you start the chicken. When the Instant Pot is done with my Keto Butter Chicken my Roasted Cauliflower will be done right at the same time.

You will look like a genius and cooking master that you were able to get dinner on the table in a jiffy.

Roasted Cauliflower

The Chicken

Of course you can use whatever chicken you like, but I only use Butcher Box happy chicken. I love Butcher Box because it’s economical, shows up at my door AND they give you FREE BACON.

It’s so easy to pull a few packs of chicken from the freezer and thaw on the counter for a few hours or in the fridge over night.

Spiced, NOT Spicy

Curry does not need to be spicy. I was afraid when I first opened the jar of red curry paste that is was like opening a bottle of tabasco. Yes there is a spice to it, but it’s quite mild. Please note that I like flavor and salt and spicy.

White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

Everyone has a different tolerance level, but honestly I would not call Keto Butter Chicken spicy…I call it spiced and flavorful. Plus the cream and butter cut away any hotness you might detect.

Garam Masala

You will also use a spice blend called Garam Masala that you can easily find in the spice aisle of any supermarket. This spice is just a combo of a bunch of other classic Indian spices mixed together.

You can certainly make your own…have at it with this recipe, but I buy the pre-made bottle in the spice aisle. It’s worth it to get this blend as you will make this dish several times….and then the small jar will be gone before you know it.

Garam Masala

Stove Top

Keto Butter Chicken can easily be made stove top. Simply just simmer all the ingredients a little longer with the lid on the pot. Chicken needs to be cooked all the way through.

The sauce will be a chunky with the the onions. You can use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken. Then use an immersion to pulse blend all the ingredients. Then place the chicken back in the Butter Chicken puree.

White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

Instant Pot Cooking

I’m relatively new to the Instant Pot and while I would still consider myself a beginner this kitchen tool has cemented itself as a mainstay in my kitchen. It’s an all in one gadget that saves on time and clean up.

You sauté first and then dump everything else on op. Seal the lid and let it do it’s thing. 7-10 minutes later the whole meal is done. There will be more recipes using the Instant Pot to come!

Instant Pot

This meal can feed a family, however this dish is GREAT as leftovers. I pack lunch 80% of the time for Peter and myself. I kick myself 100% of the time I don’t pack lunch. When I have this ready to go for lunch the next day or for a second dinner I’m golden.

Try Keto Butter Chicken. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

White bowl with orange sauce and chunk cooking chicken. Green cilantro, sliced open lime, and small white dish with red pepper flakes.

My secret to lasting weight loss

Maintaining my weight loss, and quite frankly staying healthy, has always been the main driver for this website. Making meals like this Keto Butter Chicken is really my trick.

Sorry, it’s that simple for me…I meal prep and almost always cook at home.

I wrote a few articles about this and will write more. Everyone needs to know that cooking at home is one of my major keys to success.

Every meal does not have to be epic.

When I am prepared I have a much better chance at success and maintaining my best health.

Kellie Logsdon
Keto Accountability Coach

21 day Keto & Fasting Jump Start Program

If you’re new to low carb and fasting you may need someone like me to hold you accountable. I have a one on one program. Click on this link for The Kellie Kitchen Keto Accountability Coaching Program.

I’ll teach you how to eat delicious food and still lose weight, look great and feel AMAZING.

The DIY Keto WorkBook

However, if you’re a “Do It Yourself” kind of person I have created a workbook to take you through the 21 day Jump Start Journey.

Click HERE find the 21 day Keto Guide Workbook on Amazon…

You can find the downloadable Keto workbook version at a discount here…

Curry orange chicken

Keto Butter Chicken

Clearly I am not Indian. And clearly this is not an original recipe, however I tweaked it to be low carb AND used my Instant Pot to make this great weeknight meal fast and delicious.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: family dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Dinner, Instant Pot
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories: 257kcal
Author: The Kellie Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1 cup onion, yellow chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 garlic cloves finely minced
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 lbs chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
  • 15 oz tomato sauce no sugar added
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp red curry paste
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 ½ tsp ginger dry ground
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup cilantro finely chopped

Instructions

  • Turn your Instant Pot to saute. Toss the butter into the Instant Pot and melt. Stir in the onions and garlic to coat and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the onions have softened. Turn off the Instant Pot.
  • Put your chicken on top of the cooked onions. Then pour the tomato sauce, tomato paste, red curry paste, Garam Masala, ginger, salt, paprika and cream over the chicken. Stir all together.
  • Lock the lid of your Instant Pot and set to manual 8 minutes. When the Instant Pot is done with that 8 minutes let it slow release for about 5 minutes….then carefully quick release the steam.
  • Open your pot and do a quick stir of your Butter Chicken. Serve over oven roasted cauliflower, riced cauliflower or just by itself because it’s that good.
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

**Stovetop works just as well.  Saute onions and garlic in the butter and olive oil.  Toss in chicken and stir over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.  Stir in all the spices, seasoning and tomato sauce and paste.  Simmer  all together for 10-15 minutes.
**You can enjoy Butter Chicken with your Crockpot, too! Toss all ingredients into your crockpot and set to low for 8 hours. Stir and enjoy.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 257kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 781mg | Potassium: 709mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1383IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg
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MEDICAL AND NUTRITION DISCLAIMER…Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nutritional break downs are done using a commercial nutrition calculator. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctorbefore starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers, this should never be construed as medical advice.


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2 Comments

  1. Norma March 23, 2019 at 9:55 am

    Hi! Is the heavy cream optional in the butter chicken recipe? I can’t seem to find when to add it in the recipe. The chicken looks delicious!!!

    1. KELLIE LOGSDON March 23, 2019 at 3:49 pm

      Thanks for catching that typo. I’m usually typing cooking and photographing so many things at once….and trying to get recipes out that I miss things sometime. Thank you!!! Have made the correction. And, I believe the cream is necessary to mellow the spice…it really adds a lot. I know some people use coconut cream with great success. Let me know what you do.